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Tsuburaya Productions
Tsuburaya Productions is a Japanese special effects studio founded in 1963 by Eiji Tsuburaya. The studio is best known for producing the original Ultraman TV series, as well as the Ultra Series. Since 2007, the Head Office has been located in Hachimanyama, Setagaya Tokyo. History Toho's renowned director of special effects, Eiji Tsuburaya, founded Tsuburaya Productions in 1963 as a means to achieve greater creative freedom. Drawing from both Tsuburaya's staff at Toho and other artists from across Japan, the company's first assignment was the 1963 Ishihara/Nikkatsu film Alone Across the Pacific. Its first in-house project was Ultra Q, a black-and-white science fiction TV series about a reporter and two pilots who investigate mysterious events, in 1966. Boasting special effects comparable to Toho and Daiei's kaiju films, it was a tremendous success, and guaranteed a follow-up. Later that year, Tsuburaya debuted the color series Ultraman, starring one of the first Heroes, to even greater ratings. Ultraman's formula of an alien warrior merging with a human host to defend the planet against monsters and aliens would become the foundation for Tsuburaya's Ultra Series. Following Eiji Tsuburaya's death in 1970, his eldest son Hajime Tsuburaya took control of the company. Tsuburaya Productions would then remain a family business until 2007, when it was sold to TYO Inc. Today, Fields Corporation owns a 51% stake in Tsuburaya, with the other 49% is controlled by the company Bandai, whose Ultraman products have been prominently featured in every Ultraman Series since Ultraman Ginga in 2013. World Record In 2001 Tsuburaya's Ultra Series was awarded by the Guinness Book of World Records for the most amount of television spin offs. In 2013, the record has continued to be upheld for a total of 12 years. In the 2014 edition of the book, the Ultra Series was still listed as having the world record for the most spin-off series. The certification counts the 27 spin off series which were made at that time. This excludes remakes like the Heisei Ultraseven series, one off movies, summaries and home releases. Although technically many of the shows were not originally meant to be sequels, they were to be in a single multiverse. Series '1960s' *''Ultra Q'' (1966) *''Ultraman'' (1966-67) *''Monster Booska'' (1966-67) *''Ultraseven'' (1967-68) '1970s' *''Ultra Fight'' (1970-71) *''Return of Ultraman'' (1971-72) *''Mirror Man'' (1971-72) *''Redman'' (1972) *''Iron King'' (1972-73) *''Ultraman Ace'' (1972-73) *''Jumborg Ace'' (1973) *''Fireman'' (1973) *''Mirror Fight'' (1974) *''Ultraman Taro'' (1973-1974) *''Ultraman Leo'' (1974-1975) *''Dinosaur Expedition Born Free'' (1976-1977) *''Dinosaur Great War Izenborg'' (1977-1978) *''The Ultraman'' (1979-1980) '1980s' *''Ultraman 80'' (1980-1981) *''Andro Melos'' (1983) *''Ultraman Kids'' (1986) *''Ultra Monster Encyclopedia'' (1988-90) '1990s' *''Ultraman M178'' (1990-91) *''Ultraman: Towards the Future'' (1990-91) *''Ultraman M175 Ultra Hero Finishing Attack Study'' (1991-92) *''Ultraman Kids II'' (1991-92) *''Ultraman M730 Ultra Monster Encyclopedia'' (1992-93) *''Ultraman M730 Ultra Monster Battle Game'' (1993-94) *''Gridman'' (1993-94) *''Ultra Super Fight'' (1994) *''Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero'' (1995) *''Ultraman Tiga'' (1996-97) *''Ultraman Dyna'' (1997-1998) *''Ultraman Gaia'' (1998-1999) '2000s' *''Ultraman Neos'' (2000-01) *''Ultraman Cosmos'' (2001-02) *''Ultraman Boy's Ultra Coliseum'' (2003) *''Ultra Q: Dark Fantasy'' (2004) *''Ultraman Nexus'' (2004-05) *''Ultraman Max'' (2005) *''Ultraman Mebius'' (2006) *''Ultraseven X'' (2007) *''Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle'' (2008-09) *''Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle: Never Ending Odyssey'' (2008-09) '2010s' *''Ultraman Retsuden'' (2011-16) *''Ultra Zero Fight'' (2012) *''Neo Ultra Q'' (2013) *''Ultraman Ginga'' (2013) *''Ultraman Ginga S'' (2014) *''Ultra Fight Victory'' (2015) *''Ultraman X'' (2015) *''Ultraman Orb'' (2016) *''Ultraman Orb: The Origin Saga (2016-17)'' *''Ultra Fight Orb'' (2017) *''Ultraman Zero: The Chronicle'' (2017) *''Ultraman Geed'' (2017) *''Ultraman Orb: The Chronicle'' (2018) *''Ultraman R/B'' (2018) *''ULTRAMAN'' (2019) *''Ultraman Taiga'' (2019) *''Ultra Galaxy Fight: New Generation Heroes'' (2019) '2020s' *''Ultraman Chronicle: Zero & Geed'' (2020) Films '1960s' *''Ultraman'' (1967) film *''Ultraman, Ultra Seven: Giant Monster Extreme Battle'' (1969) film '1970s' *''Return of Ultraman'' (1971) film *''Return of Ultraman: Terror of the Tornado Monster'' (1971) film *''Daigoro vs. Goliath'' (1972) co-production *''Jamborg Ace and Giant'' (1974) co-production *''The 6 Ultra Brothers vs. The Monster Army'' (1974) co-production *''The Last Dinosaur'' (1977) co-production *''The Bermuda Depths'' (1978) co-production *''Ultraman'' (1979) film *''Ultraman: Great Monster Battle'' (1979) film '1980s' *''Ultraman Zoffy'' (1984) *''Ultraman Kids: The Movie'' (1984) *''Popular Monster's Parade'' (1984) *''Ultraman Story'' (1984) *''Anime Chan'' (1984) *''Ultraman: The Adventure Begins'' (1987) '1990s' *''Ultra Q the Movie: Legend of the Stars'' (1990) *''Ultraman: The Alien Invasion'' (1990) film *''Ultraman: The Battle for Earth'' (1990) film *''Revive! Ultraman'' (1996) *''Ultraman Zearth'' (1996) *''Ultraman Zearth 2: Superhuman Giant Battle - Light and Shadow'' (1997) *''Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light'' (1998) *''Rosetta the Masked Angel: Rosetta vs. Freia'' (1999) co-production *''Ultraman Tiga, Ultraman Dyna, & Ultraman Gaia: The Decisive Battle in Hyperspace'' (1999) '2000s' *''Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey'' (2000) *''Ultraman Tiga Side Story: Revival of the Ancient Giant'' (2001) *''Ultraman Cosmos: The First Contact (2001)'' *''Ultraman Gaia: Gaia Once Again'' (2001) *''Ultraman Dyna: The Return of Hanejiro'' (2001) *''Ultraman Cosmos 2: The Blue Planet'' (2002) *''New Century Ultraman Legend'' (2002) *''Ultraman Cosmos vs. Ultraman Justice: The Final Battle'' (2003) *''New Century 2003 Ultraman Legend: The King's Jubilee!'' (2003) *''Ultraman'' (2004) *''Ultraman Mebius & the Ultra Brothers'' (2006) *''Great Decisive Battle! The Super 8 Ultra Brothers'' (2008) *''Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends the Movie'' (2009) '2010s' *''Ultraman Zero The Movie: Super Deciding Fight! The Belial Galactic Empire'' (2010) *''Ultraman Zero Side Story: Killer the Beatstar'' (2011) *''Ultraman Saga'' (2012) *''Ultraman Ginga: Theater Special'' (2013) *''Ultraman Ginga: Theater Special Ultra Monster Hero Battle Royal!'' (2014) *''Ultraman Ginga S the Movie: Showdown! The 10 Ultra Warriors!'' (2015) *''Ultraman X the Movie: Here Comes! Our Ultraman'' (2016) *''Ultraman Orb the Movie: Lend Me the Power of Your Bonds!'' (2017) *''Ultraman Geed the Movie: Connect the Wishes!'' (2018) *''Ultraman R/B the Movie: Select! The Crystal of Bond'' (2019) '2020s' *''Ultraman Taiga the Movie: New Generation Climax'' (2020) *''Shin Ultraman'' (2021) Television Specials *''The World of Ultra Q'' (1990) *''Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider'' (1993) OVAs *''Ultraman Graffiti'' (1990) Trivia *Eiji Tsuburaya's ties with Toho allowed props, suits, sound effects, and even footage from the studio's kaiju films to appear in Ultra Q and Ultraman. Godzilla became Gomess and Jirass, Baragon became Pagos, Neronga, Magular, and Gabora, Maguma became Todora, the Giant Octopus became Sudar, King Kong became Goro, and Manda became Kai Dragon. *Toho employees who worked on the early Ultra Series installments included Ishiro Honda (director of several Return of Ultraman episodes), Shinichi Sekizawa (writer of the pilot episode of Ultraman), Kenji Sahara (Jun Manjome in Ultra Q), and Akihiko Hirata (Chief Hanazawa in Ultra Q, Professor Iwamoto in Ultraman, and Staff Officer Yanagawa in Ultraseven). External Links *Official Website (Japanese) *Official Website (English) *Official YouTube Channel *Official Facebook page *Official Twitter page *Eiji Tsuburaya Official Site Category:The Real World Category:Companies Category:Film Companies